NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S BASKETBALL RECRUITING OFF-CAMPUS RECRUITING GUIDE Effective August 1, 2007
Freshman/Sophomore
Recruiting materials Questionnaires and camp brochures only.
Junior
Recruiting materials September 1. Telephone calls April call permissible on or after Thursday following Women’s Final Four One call in May One call June 1 - 20 One call June 21 - 30 Three during the month of July following junior year
Senior
Telephone calls Once per week. Off-campus contact September 16. Official visit Opening day of classes.
Two-Year College Prospects
Telephone calls Once per week. Qualifier Contacts permissible. Nonqualifier No contacts until after completion of first year of enrollment at the two-year college. Official visits October 15.
Four-Year College Prospects
Telephone calls Once per week. NCAA or NAIA institution Only after written permission has been granted by the student-athlete’s institution. Other four-year institution Written permission not necessary. Official visits – October 15.
Evaluations and Contacts
100 recruiting-person days during academic year evaluation period. Not more than five recruiting opportunities (contacts and evaluations combined) during the academic year per prospect. Not more than three off-campus contacts during prospect’s senior year. Practice/competition site restrictions.
*Please note that this document should not be used as a substitute for the NCAA manual. Coaches are encouraged to contact the athletics compliance office for additional information. DEFINITIONS Contact A contact is any face-to-face encounter between a prospect or the prospect’s parents, relatives or legal guardian(s) and an institutional staff member or athletics representative during which any dialogue occurs in excess of an exchange of a greeting. Any such face-to-face encounter that is prearranged (e.g., positions himself/herself in a location where contact is possible) or that takes place on the grounds of the prospect’s educational institution or at the site of organized competition or practice involving the prospect or the prospect’s high school, preparatory school, two-year college or all-star team shall be considered a contact, regardless of whether any conversation occurs. However, an institutional staff member or athletics representative who is approached by a prospect or the prospect’s parents, relatives or legal guardian(s) at any location shall not use a contact, provided the encounter was not prearranged and the staff member or athletics representative does not engage in any dialogue in excess of a greeting and takes appropriate steps to immediately terminate the encounter. Evaluation Evaluation is any off-campus activity designed to assess the academic qualifications or athletics ability of a prospect, including any visit to a prospect’s educational institution (during which no contact occurs) or the observation of a prospect participating in any practice or competition at any site. Recruiting-Person Days – Women’s Basketball A recruiting-person day is defined as one coach engaged in an off-campus recruiting activity of prospect on one day (12:01 a.m. to midnight); two coaches engaged in recruiting activities on the same day shall use two recruiting person days. Recruited Prospective Student-Athlete Actions by staff members or athletics representatives that cause a prospect to become a recruited prospect at that institution are: a. Providing the prospect with an official visit; b. Having an arranged, in-person, off-campus encounter with the prospect or the prospect’s parent(s), relatives or legal guardian(s); c. Initiating or arranging a telephone contact with the prospect, the prospect’s relatives or legal guardian(s) on more than one occasion for the purpose of recruitment; and d. Issuing a National Letter of Intent or the institution’s written offer of athletically related financial aid to the prospect (excluding summer term awards prior to initial full-time enrollment). Telephone Calls All electronically transmitted human voice exchange (including videoconferencing and videophones) shall be considered telephone calls. All electronically transmitted correspondence (e.g., electronic mail, facsimiles) shall not be considered telephone calls. Contacts, Evaluations and Telephone Calls Off-Campus Recruiters An institutional staff member is not permitted to recruit off campus until he or she has been certified on an annual basis as to knowledge of applicable recruiting rules. Telephone Calls During Conduct of Athletics Contest Telephone calls to a prospect [or the prospect’s relatives or legal guardian(s)] may not be made during the conduct of any of the institution’s intercollegiate athletics contests in that sport until the competition has concluded and the team has been dismissed by the coach. Telephone Calls - Institutional Staff Members -- General Rule All telephone calls to prospects (or the prospects’ parents, legal guardians or coaches) must be made by the head coach or one or more of the assistant coaches who count toward the numerical limitations in women’s basketball.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S BASKETBALL RECRUITING OFF-CAMPUS RECRUITING GUIDE Effective August 1, 2007
DEFINITIONS (cont.) Visits to a Prospect’s Educational Institution Institutional staff members may visit a prospect’s educational institution on not more than one occasion during a particular week within a contact or evaluation period, regardless of the number of prospects enrolled in the institution or whether any prospect is contacted on that occasion. During the July evaluation period, there are no limitations on the number of times an institutional staff member may visit a prospect’s educational institution. Tournament Exception In basketball, visiting a prospect’s educational institution on consecutive days during a particular week to observe a tournament or tier of a tournament shall count as a single visit. Counting Contacts and Evaluations Evaluations that occur during the academic year count against the permissible number of recruiting opportunities. Outside of the academic year, evaluations do not count against the annual number of recruiting opportunities. Contacts that occur with a prospect count against the permissible number of total recruiting opportunities regardless of the time period (e.g., academic year or outside the academic year). All contacts and evaluations are subject to recruiting calendar restrictions. Prospective Student-Athlete’s Educational Institution Any staff member desiring to contact a prospect at the prospect’s educational institution first shall obtain permission for such contact from that institution’s executive officer (or the executive officer’s authorized representative). Practice or Competition Site Recruiting contact may not be made with a prospect prior to any athletics competition in which the prospect is a participant during the day or days of competition, even if the prospect is on an official or unofficial visit. Contact includes the passing of notes to a prospective by a third party on behalf of an institutional staff member. Contact shall not be made with the prospect as follows: a. At any site prior to the contest on the day or days of competition; b. From the time the prospect reports on call and becomes involved in competition-related activity to the end of the competition; c. After the competition, including competition that requires more than one day of participation (e.g., a basketball tournament), until the prospect is released by the appropriate institutional authority and departs the dressing and meeting facility; d. Coaching staff members may send general correspondence to a prospect while the prospect is participating in an athletics event, provided the general correspondence is sent directly to a prospect (e.g., the front desk of the hotel, the prospective student-athlete’s personal fax machine) and there is no additional party (e.g., camp employee, coach) involved in disseminating the correspondence e. At any basketball event during the academic year that is not part of a prospect’s normal high school, preparatory school or two-year college season, or any event that is not approved, sanctioned, sponsored or conducted by the applicable state high school or two-year college association, National Federation of State High School Associations or the National Junior College Athletic Association; f. All communication with a prospect, the prospect’s relatives or legal guardians, the prospect’s coach or any individual associated with the prospect as a result of the prospect’s participation in basketball, directly or indirectly, is prohibited during the time period in which the prospect is participating in a summer certified event. Athletics Events Outside Contact Period In-person contact with a prospect shall not be made on or off the member institution’s campus at the site of practice or competition or for any athletics event in which the prospect participates outside the permissible contact periods. When a prospect participates in an athletics contest or event (including a noninstitutional, private camp or clinic) on a member institution’s campus outside of a contact period, it is not permissible for an authorized institutional staff member to have contact with the prospect until the calendar day following his or her release from the competition. Further, if a prospect is visiting an institution’s campus immediately before or after participating in an athletics contest or event on the institution’s campus, the prospect must depart the locale of the institution the calendar day before or after the contest or event. July Evaluation Period During the July evaluation periods, all communication with a prospect, the prospect’s relatives or legal guardians, the prospect’s coach or any individual associated with the prospect as a result of the
prospect’s participation in basketball, directly or indirectly, is prohibited.
Evaluation Days Academic Year Evaluation Period Evaluations during the academic year may occur at regularly scheduled high school, preparatory school and two-year college contests/tournaments, practices, pick-up games and open gyms. Evaluations at nonscholastic events during prospect’s academic year shall only occur during the last full weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) of the fall contact period and the identified weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) of the spring evaluation period. Summer Evaluation Period During the summer evaluation period, a member institution’s basketball coaching staff may attend noninstitutional nonorganized events (e.g., pick-up games), institutional basketball camps and noninstitutional organized events (e.g., camps, leagues, tournaments and festivals) that are certified. Coaches Attendance at Basketball Events During prescribed evaluation periods, institutional coaching staff members may attend regularly scheduled high school, preparatory school or two-year college contests/tournaments and practices, noninstitutional, nonorganized events (pick-up games), institutional basketball camps and noninstitutional nonorganized events (e.g., camps, leagues, tournaments, festivals and organized team practices in preparation for a certified event) that are certified. The basketball event certification program is not applicable to noninstitutional organized events that are approved, sponsored or conducted by an applicable state, national or international governing body (e.g., intrastate and interstate high school basketball games, state high school all-star games, international competitions and practices associated with such contests). NCAA/09/07/07/MB:dks